Spontaneous Combustion
by Shadowfax220
Summary: Sam and Dean head to Oakridge, Oregon when Sam discovers that several men in the town have been victims of Spontaneous Human Combustion.
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural I just like to amuse myself with them. Its way too much fun! (_eyebrows wiggling_)

This story is set in season one before they team back up with their father.

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter One:

Sam looked at the clock sitting on the nightstand between the two beds in the motel room they had been calling home for the past six days. It was just after four in the morning and as usual he couldn't sleep. Instead he was sitting at the small rickety table using his laptop to surf the internet for their next job. Last night they had finally been able to destroy the Black Dog that had been plaguing the area for the past several weeks and they were both tired.

Dean was asleep on the bunk closest to the door. He had fallen asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. That was something about his brother that had always amazed him. Dean could fall asleep anytime, anywhere and he never seemed to have nightmares. Sam wished he had that freedom, but for him, sleep was no longer the place of solace that it should be. Now it seemed that every time he closed his eyes the horrors they faced while awake followed him into his dreams.

Those nightmares were bad enough, but the ones he had of Jessica were becoming unbearable. They reminded him almost every night, that it was his fault that she was dead. If he had only warned her what was out there. If he had told her of his dream… but he didn't. Even though he had dreamed of her death night after night before it happened, he did nothing. And she had paid the ultimate price for his failure.

Sometimes he wondered why he had ever been born. His mother and Jessica were dead. Both died horrible deaths and Sam knew they were killed because of him. His father and Dean had placed themselves in jeopardy so many times to protect him. It seemed that everyone he knew was being hurt or killed because of him. The lives of the people he loved the most would have been so much better if he had never been born.

But Sam was a realist and he knew he could not change the past. He was here and they were gone. During the day, when he was awake he could put all these things behind him. He could do what needed to be done. He could survive. It was at night, when he slept and had no sway over his thoughts and dreams; that was when he lost control. That was when his own personal demons were able to triumph over his mind. That's why he hated the night. That's why sleep came so reluctantly to him and why he envied his brother.

So, as has become his habit since leaving school, instead of a good night's sleep he sat at the laptop doing what he did best, scouring the internet for another something else that they could find and destroy.

At four thirty Dean's eyes opened and without moving he watched his brother as he sat at the table and quietly scanned the laptop. Sam was tired, but he wouldn't or couldn't sleep. Dean knew the nightmares that plagued his brother were taking there toll on him. He just didn't know how to protect his brother from them. If he could just get Sam to focus on the good parts of their job, saving people, destroying evil it would help. He was sure that if Sam stopped focusing on the things they hunted and if he could forgive himself for what happened to Jessica things would be easier for him. Dean wasn't sure how he was supposed to do that, but he knew he had to find a way.

"Sam, you need some sleep," he told his brother. "You can't keep doing this."

Sam looked over the laptop at Dean, "I'm not tired," he said.

"Yeah, right," Dean said and sat up on the bed. "Sammy, you know you are going to have to find away to make them stop."

Sam had found something interesting on line and was only half paying attention to his brother. "Make what stop?" Sam asked absently.

"The nightmares."

Sam stopped reading and looked up at his brother. "Dean…"

Dean put his hand up, "Don't say your fine, your not fine Sam. You barely sleep anymore. You spend all your time hunting. You need to lighten up, have a little fun from time to time."

"Hey, I'm just doing what you suggested Dean," Sam told him. "I'm going to _kill as many evil sons of bitches as I can_. Remember, that's what you told me to do."

"I know, I remember," Dean told him. "But I think you're forgetting the other things I told you that night."

"What?"

"Well, for one, we are saving people Sammy. It might help if you focus on the people we save instead of the other things."

"Dean…"

"And maybe you should remember we _DO_ waste the bastards. None of them have ever gotten away once we find them, none of them."

"I know, but it's just…"

"Just what Sammy?"

Sam sighed, "Don't you think that sometimes the price for what we do is too high?"

"What do you mean?"

"Dean, come on, dad's missing, you nearly died, several times, and Jessica is… gone."

"You know, I told you when I was in the hospital, it's a dangerous gig. I know you didn't think I was serious, but I was. I know full well how dangerous what we do is. So do you and so does Dad. It's a chance I _AM_ willing to take and as for Jessica, how many times am I going to have to tell you, Jessica's death was not your fault?"

"Maybe. But maybe I could have stopped it, if I had just believed my dreams."

"How could you? You had no way of knowing you were having a premonition. You said yourself that was the first one you'd ever had."

Sam didn't answer, but Dean could practically see the wheels turning in his head. Sam needed time to consider what Dean had told him and work it out for himself. "So, find anything new for us?" He asked changing the subject.

"Maybe."


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own these awesome creatures, but I can't seem to contain myself when it comes to playing with them!

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Two

"What'd you find?" Dean asked pulling on a t-shirt.

"There's a small town in Oregon where three men have burned to death in the past month."

"So they've had more than their share of fires maybe they have an arsonist loose in the area."

"No there weren't any fires."

"But you just said they all burned to death."

"They did, but they weren't in a fire. They burst into flames and were almost completely incinerated," Sam told him.

"Wait, you're talking about spontaneous combustion. That's a myth. Didn't they prove that was impossible on that show, what was it called… um, QED about five or six years ago?"

Sam looked at his brother, "You watched QED?"

Dean looked slightly abashed, "Shut up!"

Sam shook his head, occasionally his brother surprised him. "Well, this couldn't really be called spontaneous human combustion anyway. In almost all documented cases of spontaneous combustion the victim was a female."

"Why only women?"

"Nobody knows for sure, but some scientists believe it's because of the higher percentage of body fat women carry naturally."

Dean got up and fixed himself a cup of coffee from the pot that Sam had made earlier.

"There's more," Sam told him. "There have been eleven women who died of unknown causes in the same town."

"How are they connected to the guys?" Dean asked sitting in the chair opposite his brother.

Sam turned the laptop so Dean could read the article he'd been scanning. "I'm not sure. I don't even know if they are. The local sheriff doesn't seem to think so. But, I don't know, it just seems likely that if this is our kind of job they're connected."

"Yeah our kind of playmates don't share well. One weird creature in the area is much more likely than two." Dean took a sip of coffee then asked, "So what do you think it is?"

"I don't know. It could be any number of creatures, or a witch, or just someone with pyrokinesis. But, I'd say it's more likely a demon."

Dean's eyes shot up to make contact with Sam's, "Wait, Sam, you don't think it's _the _Demon, the one that killed mom and Jessica."

Sam sighed, "I'm not sure, but I don't think so. This is different. Mom and… Well, they were killed inside. These guys, all of them died outside in a public area with witnesses. All eyewitness accounts agree there was nothing that could have started the fires. None of them smoked and they weren't around any sources of combustion."

"And these were all men."

"Yeah, and one more thing, they were all between the ages of twenty five and thirty and in good health."

"So something is using spontaneous combustion to kill."

"That about sums it up."

"Okay, sounds like our kind of thing, but Sammy," Dean asked closing the laptop.

"What?"

"Can we leave in the morning; it's like the middle of the night."

"Dean it's nearly five in the morning already, besides, you've been sleeping for over six hours."

"I wasn't worried about me, you haven't slept yet."

Sam got up and started to pack, "I'll sleep in the car," he told his brother.

"You better or I'm going to knock your ass out just to make sure you do."

Sam grinned at his brother. "Yeah, right," he told him rolling his eyes. He knew Dean was worried about him, but lack of sleep was something he had learned to deal with at Stanford. Occasionally he'd go thee or four days with less than an hours sleep each night, especially during finals.

"Hey Sam," Dean asked as he began packing his things, "What's the name of this town anyway?"

"Oakridge. It's about thirty five miles south east of Eugene."

"You know Sam you could have tried finding us a gig that's a bit closer. This one's nearly two thousand miles away."

"Well, then you'll get around twenty five hours of relaxation before we get there."

Twenty minutes later they were roaring down the road with Led Zeppelin's greatest hits blaring from the speakers. Sam laid his head back on the seat, smiled and closed his eyes. He wasn't sure why, but he'd rather chance sleep in the car then in a bed. Sam knew that was kind of screwed up, but the fact was he had nightmares less often if he was in the car with his brother's insane choice of music screaming from the speakers.

**A/N – I have only a small idea where this story is actually going. These guys have a tendency to just go their own way sometimes, so please bear with me on this one. **

**Oh, and please review and tell me what you think. **


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Still don't own them, but wouldn't it be nice to have them both as my slaves… doing whatever I asked of them! _LOL_

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Three

They'd been driving almost non stop for the past twenty seven hours andhad just checked in to the Oakridge Motel. For a mom and pop place it was surprisingly nice. It had the normal two queen sized beds, small table and pair of chairs. All of which were in good shape, no rickety chairs or an unbalanced table. However, it also came equipped with a kitchenette, a rocking chair, and a jet tub in the bathroom that Sam knew Dean was going to enjoy. There was even a freshly baked cookie wrapped with a small bow on the pillow of each bed.

The town is located in a valley of the western slopes of the Cascade Mountains and has some of the best hunting and fishing in the area. It's also supposed to be one of the best places for mountain biking in the North West. Sam suspected in the winter this would be an awesome place for skiing.

"Dean, I'm starving what say we go check out that diner the lady at the front desk was telling us about and get some breakfast?"

"Okay, maybe we can talk to some of the locals and see what they can tell us about what's been going on around here."

The diner was busy. The brothers took a seat at a table in the middle of the room so they could catch as much of the conversation in the room as possible. The waitress walked up with a smile and two cups of steaming hot coffee. "I know you fellow's haven't ordered yet, but how about starting with out famous coffee and we'll go from there."

Sam looked up to thank her, but nothing came out. She was beautiful, she looked so much like Jessica he was shocked. "I… um…" He couldn't even remember what he had been about to say to her.

Dean saw the problem immediately and answered the waitress himself. "That sounds great, thank you," he told her. "Can you give us a few minutes though before we order?"

The waitress, Jennifer, according to her name tag, replied, "Sure sweetie, I'll be back in a few minutes."

Dean looked at Sam. He was pale and breathing heavily. "Sam you okay?"

Sam didn't say anything he just looked at his brother, eyes wide.

Dean reached across the table and put a hand on his brothers' shoulder and gave a little shake. "Sam, come on little brother it wasn't her, you know it wasn't her."

Sam took a deep breath closed his eyes for a second then replied, "Yeah, I know, but she…"

"I know she could have been Jessica's twin. Hey, we can go somewhere else if you want."

"No." Sam practically snapped, "It's… I'll be okay. It was just kind of a shock."

Dean shook his head. Sam had a way with understatements sometimes. He considered it _kind of a shock_ to look up and see your dead girlfriend speaking to you. Then again, this was Sammy they were talking about. There's no telling what he sees sometimes.

Jennifer came back to the table, "Are you fellow's ready now?"

Before Dean could answer her,Sam did. Glancing at her nametag said, "Hey, Jennifer, can we have just a few more minutes please."

"You sure can honey," she said then paused, "Are you okay, darling, you look a little pale."

Sam gave her one of his famous lopsided grins, "Yeah, I'll be okay. Thank you for asking."

Jennifer topped off their coffee cups, then left to give them a few minutes to look at the menus.

They looked over their menu's and were ready the next time Jennifer came back to get their orders. As she was writing down the orders Sam once again surprised Dean by asking, "Have you lived here long Jennifer?"

"Since I was two, my parents moved here in 86. They were looking for a quieter life."

"Where'd they move from?"

"Some place in California, I'm not sure really. I love it here it's so quiet and peaceful. Well, it was until about a month ago."

"What happened to change things?" Dean asked. He knew where Sam was going with his line of questioning and he did not want to go there just yet.

Jennifer looked around then lowered her voice before she replied. "Well, several people have died, and no one seems to be able to figure out why. Heck they can't even figure out how."

"Really, it seems like such a nice little town," he said.

"It is, well, it was until those girls started dying. Nobody knows why they died either. They said there wasn't anything wrong with them. The sheriff told my uncle Tommy, he's a deputy, that if it weren't for the mark all of them had on the back of their necks he would have thought they all died from natural causes."

"Really," Sam said, "What does the mark look like?"

"No one knows the sheriff is keeping that secret."

"Didn't I read in the paper about a guy burning to death here too?" Dean asked.

"Yeah, that was really weird. He was standingon the sidewalk near the courthouse and he just burst into flames. They only thing left was a pile of ashes and scorch mark on the ground. He wasn't the only one either two other guys died the same way. Ya know people are getting really scared."

"I would think so." Dean said.

Jennifer noticed another customer waving her to his table and said, "I'll be back with your order in just a bit"

"We need to find out what that mark is." Sam told Dean.

"Yeah, when we leave here I'll go poke around the sheriff's office," Dean said. He paused a second before asking, "Sam, you know that's not Jessica right."

A quizzical look passed over Sam's face before he replied. "Um, yeah, Dean, I know."

"Just make sure you remember." Dean told him. Dean was a worried, this was either going to be a good thing for Sam or it was going to blow up in his face and make things a whole lot worse for his little brother.

**A/N Okay, So, this story has taken an unexpected turn even for me. I'll have to see where it goes from here! I hope ya'll are enjoying it!**

**Please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: Let me check…. Nope still not mine.

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Four

Dean was grinning at his brother as they got into the car. Dean had gone to take a leak and when he came back Sam was stuffing something in his pocket. It wasn't until they been walking out and Jennifer came up to Sam and reminded him to call her that Dean figured out it was her phone number he'd been hiding.

"Sammy, you got that girls phone number. You hound dog you!"

Sam rolled his eyes at his brother. Sometimes his big brother could be a real pain in the ass. "Don't start Dean, not this time."

Dean put his hands up smirked and replied, "Okay, Okay. I won't push it, but if you need any advice, suggestions or maybe a few condoms, you just let me know."

"DEAN!"

"What? I'm just offering a bit of help. I know it's been a while for you and I figured you may need some ideas."

"Drive the car Dean!" Sam yelled irritated at his brother's childish behavior.

Laughing at his brother Dean pulled away from the restaurant and headed for the local library. Sam was going to do some digging while he went to the sheriff's office to find out what he could from them. He briefly wondered if they had any good looking lady cops in this town.

"So what did you find out from the sheriff's office?" Sam asked as he got in the car later that evening.

"I got this." Dean said giving Sam a picture.

The picture was labeled "Evidence". The picture showed a woman lying face down on a steel table. It was a close up of the back of her neck. Burned into the skin was a very intricate design.

"What is it?"

"I don't know yet, but I think you're right about this being a demon. I went down to the court house where Jennifer said the last guy scorched the sidewalk. The EMF was reading off the charts and I scraped some of the residue from the ground. Guess what I got?"

"Sulfur?"

"Yep,"

"That's going to narrow it down. We need to see if we can find out anything from the sigil in the picture. If we can find out which demon it is we can send it back to hell."

Nodding Dean asked Sam, "So, what'd you find out?"

"Plenty," he replied. "I checked out all the victims and the timeline. I can see a pattern, but something is off."

"Well, tell me what you've got so far."

"The first person to die was Marissa Robinson. She was just a tourist who came here with her boyfriend. Then two women, Janet Peters and Audry Hughs died both locals. These there women have nothing in common. I couldn't find anything to connect them to each other. The first was a tourist, the second a waitress from an uptown restaurant and the third worked for a resort out of town. None of them lived anywhere near each other."

"Okay, so where's the pattern?"

"Well, this is where it gets interesting. The day after Audry died Steve Burrows is killed. He was the boyfriend of Marissa Robinson the first victim. He was standing in the parking lot of a restaurant when he suddenly burst into a ball of flame and was incinerated almost to ashes in front of almost a dozen witnesses."

"The next morning, Theresa Reeves is killed. Sherry Hill and Annette Anderson die over the next few days. Then the following day William Reeves, Theresa's husband, burns to death at a local ball park."

"Then the pattern starts again. Margaret Henderson dies the following morning. Then Peggy Brown and Lacy Newman are killed. Paul Henderson goes up in smoke next and the pattern started again the following day with the death of Lane Duncan and the last person to die was Suzy Mayfield."

"We need to find the connection between the girls so we can stop the next one from getting killed." Sam told Dean.

"No we don't Sammy."

"Dean," Sam said, "If this pattern holds true the next girl is going to die tomorrow. We need to find a way to stop it."

"Yeah, but we don't need to find the connection. We already have it."

"What are you talking about?" Sam was getting frustrated.

Dean laughed and said, "And you're supposed to be the smart one?"

"Spit it out Dean. What am I missing that you are being so smug about."

"The connection isLane Duncan's husband or boyfriend. We need to find him. If what you're saying is true then he's the one possessed by the demon. We need to find him and perform an exorcism."

"First you need to find out more about the demon. Things could get ugly if we used the wrong ritual."

"Me?" Dean asked, "That's your job Sammy."

"Not this time. This time it's all you Dean. I'm picking up Jennifer in about an hour."

Dean smiled and was about to say something when Sam spoke up, "If you so much as utter one word about my plans for tonight I am going to smack you."

**A/N Okay, I hope I didn't confuse anyone. I sure got a bit confused when I was typing it. I had to check it three times just to make sure I had it right!**

**Please review and let me know what you think.**


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own Supernatural.

Thank you Ciya for helping me catch a critical error in chapter four. It has been corrected!

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Five

Sam arrived at the Diner and walked inside to see if Jennifer was ready. He saw her sitting at one of the tables speaking with a sheriff's deputy. She looked up at Sam as he approached, smiled and stood up. She had changed from her waitress uniform into a tight pair of blue jeans that hugged her hips, but dipped slightly in front to reveal her firm stomach and perfect belly button. Her lacy white shirt was low cut threatening to release the treasures it secured. Her hair was down and she pushed it out of her face as she spoke. "Sam, I'd like you to meet my uncle Tommy," she said introducing them. "Uncle Tommy this is Sam."

"Just Sam?" her uncle asked as he stood and looked at him.

Sam gave a nervous grin and replied, "Winchester, Sam Winchester. It's nice to meet you sir."

As they shook hands Sam sized the man up. Uncle Tommy was slightly taller then Sam, but he was built like Dean. The man practically oozed power. Sam decided he would not want to get on the wrong side of this man.

"Sam, I'll be right back, I'm just going to get my purse then we can leave."

Sam watched her go, not realizing he was staring at her swaying hips the entire time. He was lost in thought for a few seconds as he recalled watching Jessica's hips sway the exact same way. He was so distracted by his memories that almost didn't hear Jennifer's uncle when he spoke.

"Sam, I'd like to know what your intentions are towards my niece."

Sam looked at the deputy, who was frowning at him. "Excuse me?" He asked.

"I said, what are your intentions towards my niece?"

"Sir, I'm going to take her to diner."

"And after diner what are your intentions?" Uncle Tommy demanded.

"Sir, my _only _intention is to take her to diner. I just want to enjoydiner and a pleanst conversationwithher," he replied.

"Yeah right, she's a pretty girl and all you're thinking about is taking her to diner?"

"No sir," Sam said. He was beginning to loose his patients with this guy. He was worse then Dean. He actually thought all Sam was after was a one night stand and it pissed him off. Royally.

"I knew it. You tourists are all the same…" he started, but Sam interrupted him.

He stepped closer to the deputy and looked him in the eyes his anger causing him to disregard his earlier thoughts about the strength of the man. "You misunderstood me sir. What I meant to say she is not a pretty girl!" he said fiercely. The startled frown that came over the deputies' face was quickly replaced by surprise when Sam continued. "She is one of the most beautiful girls I've ever met and I'd like to get to know her a little better. That is _if_ you don't have a problem with that."

Sam never saw Jennifer come up behind him. He never saw the look of hurt on her face when he said she was not pretty and he didn't see it very quickly replaced with happiness when he finished his tirade. In fact, he didn't realize she was there until she stepped between him and her uncle her hands on her hips. "Uncle Tommy! Not again, you promised."

Putting up his hands in surrender the deputy said, "I'm sorry honey. I know I promised, but I'm just trying to look out for you. I don't want you to get hurt again."

"I know, but you can't keep doing this Uncle Tommy. I think I'm old enough to decide who I want to go out with all by myself. Now I think you owe Sam an apology."

While Jennifer was letting her uncle have it, Sam had the time to let his temper cool down. When she demanded her uncle apologize to him Sam said, "No he doesn't." Both Jennifer and her uncle turned to look at Sam. "Jennifer, he was only trying to protect you and that is something I completely understand. No apology is necessary."

"Actually, it is," said the deputy softening just a bit. "I was rude and made an assumption that may have been way out of line. It is possible that I may even havebeen wrong."

"Thank you," Sam said once again shaking the man's hand.

"You take care of her. She's a very special girl."

"Yes she is," Sam replied nodding.

Rolling her eyes at them Jennifer said, "If you two Neanderthals are done beating your chests, I'm ready to leave Sam."

Sam smiled at her as the left the diner, "Neanderthal?" he said, "Don't repeat that anywhere near my brother. He'd never stop laughing."


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Six

They were sitting in a corner both at a local restaurant waiting for the meal they'd ordered to arrive. They were laughing because Jennifer had just finished telling Sam about the last time her uncle had _spoken_ with a prospective date. The last time she'd seen him the poor guy was running out of the diner as fast as he could.

"I think he likes you," she told Sam smiling.

"How could you tell?" he asked her.

"He shook your hand before we left. He's never done that before, I think he approves."

Sam wasn't sure what to say to that so he did what he always does when got uncomfortable about a conversation. He changed the subject. "So your family owns the diner?"

"Yeah, I pretty much grew up in that diner. I love it, I always have. Most of the people from around here come in to eat and I get to meet new people constantly."

"Well, its good food," he said with a grin, "and great service."

"Dad says the whole thing was mom's idea. They way he tells it, when I was little and we still lived in California she used to bug him to death about opening his own restaurant because he was such a good cook."

"So your dad is the cook, not your mom?" Sam asked.

"Oh, no, we don't let mom anywhere near the kitchen. She has got to be the worst cook in the world." She laughed, "She's the business manager. She handles the finance end of the business."

The waitress brought their meals and disappeared back into the kitchen.

"So Sam what about you," Jennifer asked, "What do you do for a living?"

Sam grimaced. He never really knew how to answer this question because he hated lying, but there was no way he could tell the truth. "Well, Dean and I we, um, we're kind of on an extended road trip right now."

"Sounds like fun. How long have you been gone from home?"

Sam almost choked on that question he sure couldn't tell her that he'd been on a road trip almost his entire life. He tilted his head to the side and gave her a half smile and said, "Seems like forever, but hey, we're having so much fun we may never go back."

"I'll bet. It would be nice to be able to travel and see different places."

"Really?" he asked. He didn't like being the topic of the conversation. "Tell me if you could go anywhere you wanted where would you go?"

"Anywhere?"

"Yeah."

"Paris would be nice, but there are so many places here in the states that I haven't seen yet. I'd love to see New York City it would be wonderful to go a Broadway play, or take a buggy ride through Central park."

Sam watched her as she spoke. She was so animated just the way Jessica had been, so bright and cheerful. This girl was so much like her that a couple of times tonight he almost forgot that she wasn't. He smiled a sad smile realizing that he had forgotten all the good times that he and Jessica had shared. He was so focused on her death that he had forgotten her life.

Jennifer was saying something to Sam, but he was only half paying attention.

"Sam," she said quietly.

He looked at her and smiled. "Yes?"

"I remind you of someone don't I?" she asked.

He looked at her for second before replying. "I guess it shows?"

She laughed and said, "Well, let's just say you shouldn't try winning at poker."

"I'm sorry I…"

She interrupted him, "Its okay Sam, I'm not offended, in fact I'm kind of flattered. You obviously cared a great deal for this woman."

Sam didn't know what to say so he just nodded his head. He knew the emotions had to be written all over his face, but he was at a loss of how to control them other then getting up and walking away. Which he was so very tempted to do, but he got himself into this mess by asking her out. She shouldn't have to pay for his thoughtlessness.

"Would you like to talk about her?"

Sam shook his head very quietly said, "Um, I a… I can't."

"It's okay. We don't have to talk about her." She said then changed the subject. "So why Oakridge, what brought you and your brother here?"

He laughed, "Dean and I we're um, kind of amateur detectives. We saw the stories of all the deaths in the area and decided we'd do a little digging and see what we could find." Not to far from the truth, but not exactly a lie either.

"That's kind of neat, but I wouldn't let the sheriff know. He's kind of a stickler about people poking their noses into his investigations," she said. "Have you found anything yet?"

Not the best subject in the world Sam thought, but much safer then attempting to discuss Jessica with her. "Yeah, actually I did. I spent the day at the library going through old newspapers and stuff and I found a pattern."

"But Uncle Tommy said there wasn't one. None of the girls that died even knew each other. He said they didn't even use the same grocery stores."

"Your uncle talks to you about his investigations?" Sam asked.

"No, but he comes into the diner all the time with the other deputies and sometimes the sheriff." She shrugged. "It's not that big a place I hear all kinds of things working there."

"I bet you do," Sam laughed, "But, there is a pattern when you put the three men that have died together with the women."

"Really, they said those two cases aren't even connected?"

"Yeah, they are." he said smiling at her. "Well, I still have a few things to work out, but I think I for the most part I'm close to figuring this mystery out."

"So you'll be able to figure out who's killing everyone?"

"Maybe, if I can work out the kinks I've run into."

"What kinks?"

"Well, for one I can't figure out how the men are connected. I don't think they've ever met, but I know there is a connection, there's got to be."

"Well, I knew Mr. Reeves and he didn't know any of the other men that died, but he was there at the restaurant the day that the first man died."

"Wait, he was a witness to the death of Mr. Burrows?"

"Yeah, but they never even spoke to each other."

"That's it though, that's the connection. I'd be willing to bet that Mr. Henderson was a witness to the death of Mr. Reeves too."

Jennifer had watched as Sam went from sad to excited in the space of just a few minutes and she smiled. All of a sudden he was like a kid in a candy factory. And, it he was right about the pattern he may have just helped to solve the biggest problem this town has ever had. She would have to talk to Uncle Tommy about Sam's theory.

Later, after dinner Sam drove Jennifer back to the diner and walked her to the door. "I had a really good time tonight Sam."

"Yeah," he said "I know I'm a bucket of laughs."

"No, really I did, and… It would be nice if you wanted to do it again sometime."

"Look, Jennifer, my brother and I, we don't stay anywhere very long. We move around a lot."

"Well, that's nice to know Sam, but I'm not looking for a wedding ring here. I enjoy your company and would like to spend more time with you. That's all." She paused for a minute and then added, "Unless you don't want to be with me."

"No, Jennifer, it's not like that."

"Okay, then I'll be expecting your call. Have you ever been mountain biking? I can borrow a couple of bikes from my uncle. It's a lot of fun and doesn't require much talking."

Sam smiled and held up his hands, "Okay, Okay, you don't need to convince me, I'll call you."

"Good night Sam," she said then kissed him lightly on the cheek before turning and entering the diner.

**A/N Okay, I'm normally don't write relationship scenes because I'm not very good at it. But in this case it was a necessary evil. Please review and let me know what you think.**


	7. Chapter 7

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural

_A/N Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I got distracted by another thought and had to write a one shot (Secrets of the Father) just to get it out of my head so I could go back to work on this one. _

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter seven

Dean was sitting at the table surfing the net on the laptop and nursing a beer when Sam got back to the motel. He glanced at Sam when he came in then looked back to the computer. "You're back early, I guess that means you didn't get lucky," he said absently.

"Actually, I got very lucky." Sam said with a grin reaching into the little fridge for beer.

Dean looked up at his brother surprised by his answer. "That's my boy!"

"Yeah," Sam told him with a laugh, "I know how the demon is choosing his the next male victim."

"So you didn't get any?" Dean asked crestfallen.

"Dean, if I did, do you think I'd tell you?" He said sitting in the other chair and pulling the laptop over to see what his brother was doing.

"Hell yeah," Dean said with a grin, pulled the laptop back and asked, "How's it choosing them?"

"Each male host is a witness to the death of its previous host."

"How'd you figure that?"

"Jennifer said the second guy, Reeves was a witness to the death of the first one Duncan."

"Let me get this straight?" Dean asked, "You go out on a date with a girl for the fist time in how many months and you discuss the job we're working on?"

"Well…"

"Dude, no wonder you didn't get any."

"Whatever."

"What did you tell her about us?" Dean asked.

"The truth," Sam said, but then at the look on his brother's face he continued. "That we were brothers on a road trip. And that we liked to solve mysteries when we came across them."

"Sammy, Sammy, Sammy, you have got to learn to be more creative with the girls!" Dean said. "It'll help in the getting laid department."

"Come on Dean, we don't have to lie to everyone we meet." He said standing up and walking across the room.

"Yeah, cause the truth about what we do is so much better."

"Hey, I didn't tell her the truth, I just didn't exactly lie."

Dean's eyebrows shot up and he laughed, "You didn't tell her the truth and you didn't lie? What else is there Sam?"

"You know what?" Sam said lying down on his bed hands behind his head. "Can we just change the subject please?"

"No."

Sam was spared further discussion when someone knocked on the door.

"Are you expecting company?" Dean asked standing and going to the window.

"No," Sam replied sitting up on the bed and looking around the room to be sure nothing was in sight that shouldn't be.

Dean moved the curtains just enough to look out the window and see who was outside. He turned to Sam and asked, "What did you do to that girl?"

"Nothing. Why?"

"Five-O dude," Dean said going to the door and opening it.

The man gave Dean no time to speak. As soon as the door opened the officer said, "I'm looking for Sam Winchester."

Dean looked over his shoulder at his brother and asked, "Sammy is there something you're not telling me?"

"No." he replied to his brother recognizing the deputy standing outside the door. "Dean, don't be rude let him in."

Dean moved aside and the officer walked past him to Sam who had stood up and was now facing the cop. Dean closed the door and leaned on it waiting to see what would happen next and prepared to defend his brother if necessary. He was surprised when Sam addressed the man with a nervous familiarity.

"Sir," Sam said, "Is Jennifer okay? I dropped her off at the diner about thirty minutes ago." Her uncle didn't look angry or even upset causing Sam to wonder about the reason for his visit.

"I know, I was there and she is fine." He said turning and looking pointedly at Dean then back to Sam, "That not why I'm here."

"Well then, what can I do for you sir?"

"My niece told me a little about your theory on the strange deaths we've had in the area."

Sam looked at Dean who turned suddenly hard eyes on his brother, then shrugged his shoulders. "Sir, we're not trying to interfere with your investigation. It's just… kind of a hobby of ours."

"We haven't done anything wrong." Dean said. "We…"

The deputy turned to face Dean, "You sure about that? Because when I did a background check on your brother. Your name came up too. But see, that's where things get just a bit fuzzy for me _Dean_."

Dean knew they were in trouble now, or at least he was. "You did a background check on Sammy? Why?"

"Because he's dating my niece."

"Your niece? Jennifer is your niece?" Dean glanced at Sam who was looking at him sheepishly. Obviously Sam had left out key information about this date of his.

"Yes, you see the problem I'm having is I don't understand how you can be here. Not when you were buried in St. Louis a few months ago. But judging by the photos I saw maybe it was a twin brother."

"Well…"

The deputy interrupted him. "That's not why I'm here though. What I want is to know more about this theory of yours so spill it. Unless you _want_ me to start digging a little deeper."

Dean's eyes suddenly went cold, he was getting angry, very angry. And the way he suddenly appeared even more relaxed sent a warning to his brother. Dean did not like to be threatened and Sam knew he had to quickly diffuse the situation or real trouble would be starting soon. "Look, um, Officer Tommy?" Sam said, not exactly sure what to call him. Somehow he didn't think Uncle Tommy was going to work well. The officer swung his gaze back to Sam.

"Deveraux," the man said.

"Officer Deveraux we'd be happy to explain our theory to you, but it's still got some kinks in it. There's still a lot we don't know."

"Well, maybe I can fill in some of the blanks." The deputy looked at Dean and asked? "You got another one of those beers handy?"

Dean looked at his brother, "Sammy?"

"Yeah," he replied as he watched his brother get a beer for Jennifer's uncle, pop the top and hand it to the man.

"You are so not dating ever again." Dean told him. And just like that the tension was gone from the room.

**A/N Please Review.**


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter eight

Sam and Dean were each sitting on their beds, Jennifer's uncle had pulled up one of the chairs from the table. Sam pulled out all the notes he had made at the library hiding the picture Dean had some how gotten his hands on. Sam gave Dean a questioning. Dean nodded letting Sam tell it.

"How much did Jennifer tell you about our theory?" Sam asked.

"She said that you found a pattern when you connected the deaths of the men with the deaths of the ladies."

"We did."

"I'm sure you are aware that the first woman and the first woman to die were in a relationship."

"Yes, they were engaged to be married. They came for a weekend trip to do some spelunking in the caves not far from here. In fact they'd done only one day of exploring before she died."

"They were exploring a cave system?" Dean asked.

"Yes it was discovered a few months ago after an earthquake caused a landslide on the cliffs."

"Can you show us where that cave is?"

"Maybe, but first tell me what else you have."

"Well, if what you say is true, the cave is the most likely starting point." Sam shuffles through the newspaper articles that have been cut out and are now laid out on the bed. He picks up the first one hand it to Deveraux and continues. "Okay, your first victim isn't Marissa Robinson it's her fiancé Steve Burrows. When they were down in the cave system Burrows must have become pos…" Sam caught himself before saying possessed. "Ill," he said instead. "This illness caused him to kill his fiancé the following day."

"Wait, your saying this is an illness?"

"Um, yeah, sort of." Sam replied and before Deveraux could say anything else Sam continued. "This illness caused him to kill Janet Peters and Audry Hughs before it literally consumed him." He handed the officer the news clippings for those two girls.

"Then we have William Reeves who became ill when he witnessed the death of Steve Burrows."

"Wait, Reeves was a witness to Burrows death? How do you know that?"

"Jennifer told me she said he was a regular at the diner."

"Okay I'll talk to her later, go on."

"Reeves kills his wife, Sherry Hill, and Annette Anderson."

"Then he burns up in the park and we already know Henderson was a witness. We have his statement."

"Yeah, the next day he kills his wife, and then before he dies on the sidewalk outside the courthouse he kills Peggy Brown and Lacy Newman."

"So following your pattern then Henry Duncan killed his wife Lacy, then Suzy Mayfield." Deveraux said.

"And he is going to kill another woman sometime tomorrow then the day after he is going to get extra crispy. Unless we can find a way to stop him," Dean concluded for him.

"And you think all this is caused by some strange illness Burrows picked up in the cave?"

Deveraux finished his beer and Dean reached over and got him another from the fridge. Dean had been watching and listening to the deputy as Sam explained their theory to him. The man spoke with the barest of accents. An accent that Dean happened to recognized, "Officer Deveraux," he asked, "You're not from around here are you?"

"Not originally, though I've been here for about a year now. Why?"

"You're from Louisiana, maybe New Orleans."

"Yes, seven years as a police officer for the city. I left after Katrina pretty much wiped out the city. I moved up here to be close to my brother and his family."

"Seven years." Dean shook his head, "I bet in those seven years in New Orleans you saw some very strange things."

Sam was wondering where Dean was going with this line of questioning.

"What's your point?" asked Deveraux apparently wondering the same thing.

"My point is this not really an illness. It's a possession. These men are being possessed and used to kill the women."

Sam's eyes about popped out of his head when he heard what Dean had just told Officer Deveraux. But the officer's reply started Sam even more.

"Possessed by what?" he asked very quietly.

"We're not sure, but we think it's a demon."

"A what?" Disbelief was plain on the officer's face.

"Oh come on, some of the things they do with that Voodoo Crap in New Orleans can't be much worse." Dean said. He smiled and continued, "There is one way to find out. You need to check the bodies of the women. If it's a demon he will leave a mark on them somewhere. Like a tattoo or a brand, its way of claiming the soul of the person."

"You really expect me to believe there is a demon possessing and killing people?"

Dean laughed, "Not really, but hey that's your problem not ours. We told you we think. Now you get to decide what to do about it."

"But don't take to long to decide." Sam said, "We want to send this demon back to hell before it kills again."

"How; how do you kill a demon?" Deveraux asked.

"You don't," Dean told him. "You send it's sorry ass straight back to hell."

**A/N The boys are dragging me in deeper then I've gone before with one of their stories. Hope I'm not swallowed by it. LOL, Please review! **


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Nine

They were having breakfast at the diner. Sam was watching Jennifer as she took the order for the couple seated a few tables away. He didn't even realize he was smiling.

Dean was watching his brother the kid had not been paying any attention to anything he had said in the past ten minutes. He was getting very worried about his little brothers obsession with this Jessica look alike. They needed to finish this job and leave or someone was going to get hurt.

"Hey Sammy?" Dean asked his brother. "Am I boring you with this hunting evil stuff?"

"Huh, What?" Sam asked swinging his gaze to his brother.

Dean rolled his eyes and said, "Are just being stupid, or are you possessed by a retarded person?"

"What?" Sam asked confused. "What are you talking about?

"You can not let this thing you have with this girl go any further. You know that don't you?"

"What thing? We went to dinner last night Dean, that doesn't classify as a _thing_."

"Sam," his brother said. "It's not her. This girl is not Jessica. Jessica is gone."

Sam sighed, "I know Dean and I get that you're concerned, but you don't need to worry."

"Yeah," he replied, "This time, I think I do."

Sam looked at his brother. He could tell Dean was really worried about this, but Sam didn't have any answers to give him. He was treading murky water on this and didn't want to discussit with Dean until he figured it out himself. He smiled, knowing just how to avoid it. He raised his hand to stop any further conversation and said, "No chick flick moments!"

Dean raised his eyebrows at his brother and was silent for half a second, smirked and said, "Bitch." He knew this was not good. Sam did not avoid chick flick moments, but he wasn't going to push him yet.

"Jerk," his brother replied.

They were spared the awkward silence that surely would havefollowedwhen Jennifer came to the table, "Can I get you fellows anything else?"

"Just the check please Jennifer," Dean said before his brother could speak. "We have to go."

"We do?" Sam asked him.

Dean shook his head. "Have you heard a thing I've said to you since we got here?" he asked.

Sam looked at him sheepishly. He really hadn't been paying much attention to his brother. He was too distracted by Jennifer. He pulled out his wallet and reached in to get the money to pay for the meal.

Jennifer was putting the check on the table in front of Sam. She glanced at him smiling and was about to remind him to call her when she saw the picture that was prominently displayed in the center piece of his wallet. "Jessica," she said quietly, her eyes meeting Sam's, "Oh, God, you're Jessica's Sam. I didn't realize…"

Sam stared at Jennifer in stunned silence. She knew Jessica. He wanted to say something, wanted to ask something, but the words wouldn't come out.

Dean heard Jennifer's whispered comment. Sam sat across from him looking at Jennifer, not saying anything. "You knew Jessica?" he asked her.

Jennifer turned to Dean and he could see the sadness on her face. "She was my cousin," she replied. "I'm sorry, I didn't know, he never said. I though he was from Kansas, not California."

Sam took a deep breath then said, "I didn't… I'm sorry. She had so many relatives, so many cousins, we've never met."

Jennifer smiled at him. "I know Sam. I hadn't seen Jessica for seven years before she died. I spoke to her every few months though."

"You look so much like her," he said quietly. "She said she had a cousin that looked a lot like her, she probably even told me your name, but she had so much family I couldn't keep track of them."

Jennifer smiled at him. "I can't keep track of them either. We used to joke about it sometimes. Our mothers were identical twins and somehow we just ended up looking a lot alike." She looked around several tables were trying to get her attention. "Sam, can we talk later? I have to take care of my customers."

"Sure." Sam said.

"Sam, you okay?" Dean asked.

Sam looked at his brother, "Yeah," he said. "I am," and he realized that this time, he really meant it. "Okay," He told his brother, "We need to find Duncan and get rid of the demon."

Dean sighed, Sam really hadn't paid any attention to their conversation over breakfast. "He's not home. Jessica's uncle is looking for him he'll let us know when he finds him. Meanwhile, we're going to explore those caves."

**A/N Sorry, I'm it took so long. I'm so terrible with girl/guy relationship stories but I guess I'm a glutton for punishment! Also I couldn't get another story line out of my head so I had to write a one shot 'Secrets of the Father' (_that turned into three chapters_) Please review and let me know what you think!**


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter ten

They were able to drive the car almost to the entrance of the cave. Sam was leaning on the car while Dean dug through the trunk loading up with anything he thought they might need.

"So did you find anything about the sigil that's being left on the girls?" Sam asked.

"Not yet, I'm still working on it," he replied closing the trunk.

"You're still working on it? We don't have much time. We need to know which exorcism is going to work on this thing and to know that we need to know what kind of demon we're dealing with."

"Hey, I said I'm working on it. I should know something by this afternoon."

A slow grin spread across Sam's face as he realized what Dean had done. "You called Bobby." He said.

"No. I didn't." Dean told him with a smirk.

Sam, a confused look on his face, asked, "Then who did you call?" Sam knew his brother well. Dean was good at research, but if there was an easier way Dean would find it."

"No one," his brother replied. "Let's go Sam."

The entrance to the cave was smaller then the cave itself. Both brothers had to duck to enter, but once they were inside the cave opened up into a small cavern. At the back of the cavern their flashlights revealed a large tunnel leading deeper into the mountain. The tunnel sloped sharply leading them down into the depths of cavern.

Dean led the way further into the tunnel flashlight pointing the way. Sam was scanning the walls of the tunnels and the ground with his light hoping for some sign that they were going in the right direction. They'd been descending steadily for about thirty minutes when Sam's flashlight hit something on the ground that reflected back catching his attention.

"Dean," he said stopping to see what caused the reflection.

Dean turned to his brother, "Yeah?"

Sam picked up the thing that had attracted his attention. It was a carabineer. He showed it to his brother.

"Wow," Dean said sarcastically when he saw what was in Sam's hand. "What a treasure!"

"How'd it get here?" Sam asked shining his flashlight back to where he'd picked it up from. He moved the light up the wall of the tunnel and stopped as it revealed an opening high in the wall of the tunnel.

"Burrows or his girl must have dropped it." Dean said. He dropped the bag he was carrying shining his light up into the hole. "Looks like we're going up, give me a boost Sam let's see what's up there."

Sam clamped his hands together and leaned back on the wall. Dean put his foot into his brother's hand allowing Sam to lift him up to the entrance. Pulling himself the rest of the way into the hole he turned around and reached down to help his brother up. Once up the brothers examined the small cavern they'd discovered. "Looks like we're in the right place," Dean said unnecessarily.

The walls of the cave were covered with ancient symbols. Some of which Sam recognized, some he didn't. But what attracted the brothers' attention was at the center of the cavern. The floor of the cavern was cracked a large gaping hole at its center. Stepping closer Dean moved his light into the crevice revealing a large gap in the solid rock floor of the mountain.

"Looks like someone caged up the crispy critter." Dean said.

"Yeah," Sam replied, "A long, long time ago. I recognize some of these symbols. They're ancient, from Zoroastrian times."

"The earthquake must have cracked its prison."

"I don't get it?" Sam said.

"It was an earthquake Sam. They can be kind of powerful."

"No, that's not what I meant. How did it get here? It shouldn't be here. I'd understand if we found this… tomb in say Persia, but not here in the states."

"Somehow I doubt we'll ever know. But hey, when we die and go to heaven we can ask God. Maybe he'll tell us."

"You think you're going to heaven?" Sam looked at his brother and asked.

"Damn straight I am." Dean replied, "I have more then a few questions for the man upstairs and he's gonna answer them or I'm going to kick his ass."

**A/N Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I hope to have the next chapter posted later today. **

**Please review and tell me what you think. **


	11. Chapter 11

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter eleven

It was late afternoon when they got back to the car, packed the duffle bag back into the trunk and left the cave site.

They were on their way back to the motel to get cleaned up when Devearux called. Another body had been found. They woman was killed just like the others the same brand was left on the back of her neck. There was still no sign of Duncan.

"Damn!" Dean said, hanging up the phone. "We have got to get this bastard."

Sam knew from Dean's side of the conversation that another body had been found. They were running out of time. If they didn't find Duncan before he was killed they may have to wait for another woman to die in order to find the demon. Neither brother wanted that to happen.

When they arrived back at the motel Dean immediately grabbed the laptop turned it on and started typing.

"I'm gonna catch a shower." Sam told his brother looking at the clock on the nightstand.

"Fine," Dean said already distracted by what he was doing. Dean checked his e-mail first. He'd scanned the picture and sent a copy to Dad's friend Bobby last night. Sure enough Bobby had come through. He now knew what they were dealing with and how to get rid of it. Damn Bobby was good.

Sam stepped out of the restroom a towel wrapped around his waist. Dean was sitting at the table diligently typing on the laptop. "Well, any luck?"

"Yeah, I'm pretty sure were dealing with an Alastor."

"An Alastor?" Sam asked while getting dressed.

"Yeah, it's a mid level demon that likes to torment its victims before it executes them through spontaneous combustion. You know that's got to be a real unpleasant way to die."

"Torments them how?"

"My guess is that's why it's killing the women, to torment the men."

"What about an exorcism, have we got one, or do I need to search for it?"

"Got it, all we need it the demon." Dean looked at Sam for the first time since they started talking. He realized his brother was getting dressed up a bit more then usual. "You going somewhere?" he asked his brother.

Sam glanced at his brother. "Yeah," he told him.

"Sam, don't." Dean told him. "Don't get involved with her. It can't be the same."

Sam sighed, Dean didn't understand. Hell, he didn't exactly understand. "Dean, its okay man; I'm not getting involved. Not like you think."

"Sam…"

"You don't understand. It's not about… Look, it's…" Sam scratched his head. He didn't know how to explain it.

"Sam, I don't want you to get hurt and this girl, she can hurt you. She doesn't even have to try."

"She won't." Sam said confidently picking up the car keys and walking out.

Twenty minutes after Sam left a firm knock sounded on the door. Dean opened it and Deputy Devearux entered without preamble.

"How sure are you about this being…you know what you think it is," he asked.

"One hundred percent, now" Dean told him.

"Why what did you find?"

Dean showed him the pictures they'd taken up in the cave. Then he showed him the research and e-mail from Bobby.

"This stuff… It's not supposed to be real." Devearux said pacing back and forth in the across the small room.

"Are you religious? Do you believe in God?" Dean asked.

Devearux stopped and looked at Dean. "What? Of course I do," he said

"Then why do you have a problem believing this?" Dean asked getting up and getting two bottles of beer from the fridge. He was glad he'd restocked it earlier.

"Because these things, they aren't supposed to be real."

"Yeah, well, welcome to our world." Dean told him with a grin.

Devearux took a drink from the bottle Dean gave him. "How did you and your brother… How do you know these things?"

"Family business," Dean replied.

Devearux was silent for a minute then asked. "I'm not sure I even want to know the answer to this, but… How did you convince the St. Louis police department that you were dead?"

"I didn't. They buried what they thought was me. It was a shape shifter."

Devearux almost choked on his beer. "A what?" he asked.

"Shape shifter. A nasty son of bitch, it enjoyed killing. Damn thing stole my car too. I had to waste it after that."

"I'm not sure I want to hear anymore. Criminals, murders, drug dealers, psychotics those I can deal with. This, this is a bit much."

Dean laughed. "See, now, I'm just the opposite. Demons, ghosts, werewolves, those I can deal with. It's people, I'll never understand."

"Werewolves," Devearux asked shaking his head. "Never mind I don't want to know."

Dean grinned at him. "Do you shoot pool?" he asked. "Because, I saw this bar down the road that looked like it might have a few tables."

**A/N Please Review! Not too many more chapters I promise, but if the boys cooperate with me the next few should have you hanging on the edge of your seat… Hopefully.**


	12. Chapter 12

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Tweleve

Sam was sleeping soundly when Dean got back to the motel. Dean was sorely tempted to wake him just to pick on him. But even in his inebriated state he knew that Sam needed the sleep.

He got undressed as quietly as possible, put his knife in its customary place under his pillow, and sank gratefully down onto the bed for a few hours of much needed sleep. He just didn't understand how Sam was able to function with as little sleep as he got. Sometimes he envied his kid brother for that.

The next morning found the brothers cruising the streets of the small town a picture of Duncan taped to the dashboard. They were hoping to find him before the demon took its final revenge.

"How sure are you that this exorcism is going to work?" asked Sam. He'd been memorizing the ritual so that when the time came he would encounter as few problems as possible.

"I'm positive. It'll work," his brother replied.

"But how do you know?" Sam persisted.

"I just do."

"Come on Dean, you're going to have to give me a little more than that."

"What?" his brother asked a look of complete innocence on his face. "You don't trust me?"

"I trust you, but how do you know?" Sam knew that look. Dean was hiding something.

Dean knew that he'd been busted, so meekly he admitted it. "Because Bobby said it would."

Sam burst out laughing. "I though you said you didn't call him?" he asked.

"I didn't. I e-mailed him."

"Did the e-mail also happen to say how we are supposed to keep the demon from going nova on us before we can exorcise it?"

Dean grinned and pulled a roll of duct tape from his jacket pocket. "Yeah, he said it has to perform a ritual chant before it can burn its victim and free itself."

"Free it's self?" Sam asked. You mean it's trapped in the body until it combusts?"

"Yep, the combustion releases it to enter its next victim who remains unwary because the demon mixes with the smoke its first victim."

"Damn Bobby is good." Sam said.

"I know, but I did have it narrowed down to four options before I e-mailed him. I just didn't want to take the chance of using the wrong ritual."

Dean's phone rang ending further conversation on the matter.

"Hello," he answered it, listened to the reply and said, "Where?"

Dean turned the car around and headed for the exit as his flipped the phone closed.

"Deveraux," Sam asked.

"Yeah, Duncan's been spotted near the theater."

"Great, how much you want to bet a show will be letting out soon."

Dean pushed the gas pedal down, the impala practically jumped with the action.

The movie was already letting out when the brothers pulled up. "Shit." Dean said jumping out of the car. "This is going to be fun."

They walked into the small crowd exiting the theater looking for Duncan. Sam spotted him first. "Dean!" he called going after the possessed man.

Dean heard his brother looked in the direction he was headed and spotted Duncan. He rushed to catch up to his brother. This was going to be very messy. There were too many people around. They were going to have to take him down gag him, and get him out of the area as fast as possible. He wasn't looking forward to performing an exorcism with so many witnesses.

Sam reached Duncan first he to distract him until Dean could catch up. He called to the man, "Hey, Duncan. How are you doing? It's been a long time."

Duncan/demon looked at Sam, puzzlement plain on his face. "Hello," it said.

Sam reached out his hand offering to shake but when the demon took his hand he tugged catching it by surprise. He stepped to the side pulling the demons arm and twisting it up into an arm bar behind its back. Using his other hand he reached around and covered its mouth.

Dean saw his brother move. He watched as Sam got the demon into an arm lock holding it from behind. He also saw when the demons eyes went solid black and it head butted Sam hitting him in the face. Sam went flying into the wall of the theater as the crowd backed away.

Dean caught up to the demon. Without preamble he punched it with all the power of his upper body. It barely fazed the creature. He was set to strike again when the creature started to scream and turned to face his brother who was spraying it with holy water.

Dean tried again to put the creature down, this time by kicking its legs out from under it. He succeeded and pulled the duct tape out his jacket pocket sat on the demon and was about to tape the creature's mouth when he found himself flying through the air to slam hard into the wall of the theater the breath knocked out of him. The tape went flying away from him towards the crowd of people who stood watching.

Seeing no choice Sam was about to begin the exorcism ritual when he heard it begin to speak. Not understanding the words of the demon he knew it must have begun the chant to free it from its victim. Sam looked for the tape and, not seeing it tried coving the demons mouth with his hands again in hope of stopping it from completing the chant. It didn't work Sam was looking in the demons eyes when they turned from solid black to solid red. He felt the heat gathering in the stomach and chest of the creature.

Suddenly something struck him from the side sending him shooting off the man just as he burst into flames. He rolled away his momentum taking him almost to the feet of the people in the small crowd closest to the action. He knelt looking around. Where the man had fallen there was only a pile of ashes. Dean was getting to his feet a few feet away and Sam did likewise.

"Where did it go Dean?" he asked his brother.

Dean turned to Sam a look of confusion and sadness passed fleetingly across his face, "Sam," he said quietly just before his eyes turned solid black and Sam was sent sailing through the crowd.

**A/N Okay... Now we get to the really fun stuff! Please review and let me know what you think.**


	13. Chapter 13

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Thirteen

Having knocked his brother from the dying man Dean got to his feet. Pain assaulted his mind a flash of darkness blinding him, consuming him. He turned to warn his brother when a burning pain filled his entire being. He felt himself being pushed away. He tried to fight the thing that consumed him, but he didn't know how. It locked him in. A voice suddenly reverberated loudly within his mind. _"You are mine now." _

"_Oh shit_." He thought. Dark laughter followed his unspoken comment.

He was running, he could feel himself running. He tried to stop, but couldn't. He was able to see, feel, and hear, but he had no control over any of it. It was… weird.

He/it stopped in front of his car. _"No he told it, not my car! You can't do that. You're like, ancient, they didn't eve have cars back then! You probably can't even drive!"_

Laughter filled his mind followed by burning fingers and he felt something ripped from his mind.

"_Mortal you have no idea what I can do. But you will learn and I will enjoy teaching you."_

The pain subsided and Dean was able to think again. They were driving. Somehow the demon had taken the information from his mind. How the hell was he going to stop it?

"_You can not stop me."_

"_You can hear my thoughts?"_

"_Of course I can, I am in your mind._

"_Well get the hell out! No one invited you, and there's only room for one in here!"_

The dark laughter filled his mind again.

"_That's it. I've really got to find a way to get your sorry ass out of here. I am not going to keep listening to that laugh it's annoying."_

Dean had no idea where they were going, but wherever it was it couldn't be good. He had to figure out a way to regain control.

"_You can try, but you will not succeed."_

"_Watch me." _

"_Ah, you are a true warrior. I am going to enjoy our coming battles."_

"_Not nearly as much as I am asshole."_

"_Your torment will fill me like none other. Perhaps I will be able to sustain your body longer then the others. It would give me great pleasure."_

"_It would give me great pleasure to send you back to hell where you belong."_

The only reply was laughter.

"_Jeez_." Dean though. He had to figure out a way to keep this thing from his thoughts and how to block out that insane laugh. The laugh alone was going to make him crazy.

"_Where are we going?" Dean asked._

"_To find someone to heighten you torment."_

"_I don't have a woman in this town."_

"_I know, but don't worry. I have chosen one who will still cause you great torment. Perhaps I will even use her in the way of humans. Yes, that would increase your pain. "_

"_You are one sick bastard you know that."_

Oakridge is a small town and Dean soon realized where they were heading. "_Oh God, no_, _please don't do this_." he begged "_Sammy_…"

The demon released a great sigh of pleasure as Dean's mental torment filled him. "_It begins already. You will be one like I have never had before_."

The demon got out of the car and walked into the diner. It was quiet at the diner. Only a few tables had any customers. Jennifer was sitting at a corner table rolling silverware into napkins. She looked up as Dean approached her.

"Dean," Jennifer asked. "Where's Sam?"

"He's hurt, he needs you. Will you come?"

"What happened?" She asked getting her purse and motioning to the woman behind the counter that she was leaving.

"We were chasing the killer. He hurt Sam. Come on, we need to hurry."

As Jennifer walked up to the passenger side door the demon came up behind her. It opened the door to allow her entrance. When she tried to move past him into the car he placed his hand on the back of her neck. Dean felt the power flow from his hand and he felt Jennifer sag into unconsciousness.

"_You son of bitch. I'm going to destroy you."_

The laugh came again. He wished he could turn on the radio and drown out the sound with a bit of music. Mentally he reached for a little AC/DC. Highway to Hell seemed like the right thing for the moment.

"_What is that noise?" _the demon asked

"_A little piece of Heaven_." Dean replied and turned up the music in his mind to block out any further comment from the demon. He needed to think without the intrusion of the demon.

**A/N I know, this chapter is a bit short, sorry! Please review and let me know how it is so far!**


	14. Chapter 14

Disclaimer: Dude, I don't own them!

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter fourteen

"Where did it go Dean?" Sam asked his brother.

Dean turned to Sam a look of confusion and sadness passed fleetingly across his face, "Sam," he said quietly just before his eyes turned solid black and Sam was sent sailing through the crowd.

He was saved from striking the ground by strong arms that caught him and stopped his forward momentum. "Sam, where is he, it, whatever?" Devearux asked.

Sam didn't answer instead he sprinted back the way he'd come looking for Dean. He spotted him just before his brother got into the Impala and pulled out of the parking lot.

"Dean," he whispered to himself. He had to find Dean and fix this damn mess. He started running back to the motel. It was a few miles down the road, but it was the only place he could think of to look for his brother.

He was about half way back to the motel when Devearux pulled up next to him and motioned him to get in the car.

"What happened?" Devearux asked after he got in. "We didn't get here in time." Sam replied.

"Great," Devearux said. "Now how do we find it?"

"We have to find Dean."

"Where is he?" Devearux asked. "Is he after it?"

"No." Sam turned to Devearux for the first time since getting in the car. "It has him."

"Excuse me?"

"The demon is in Dean, we need to find him."

"How the hell are we going to do that?" the deputy asked.

"I'm hoping he went to the motel."

"And if he didn't? Dean isn't married and he doesn't have a girl friend in the area. Who is the Demon going to use to torment him?" Devearux asked.

Sam was silent for a few seconds then replied. "Me."

"No, you don't fit the profile." Devearux said, "It goes after women."

"Oh God, no," Sam said. "The diner, go to the diner." He pulled out his cell phone and dialed Jennifer's number. "Not again, I can't do this again."

Officer Devearux must have realized what Sam was thinking because he flipped on the lights turned on the siren and hit the gas. Two and a half minutes later they were at the diner, but it was too late. She was gone.

They went to the motel, but Dean and Jennifer were not there either. Sam got a few additional supplies from their room and joined the deputy back in the squad car.

He got in just in time to hear Devearux speaking over the radio with the dispatcher. "Martha, I need an A.P.B. on a 1967 Chevy Impala, four door, black, with Kansas license plates."

"Do you have a plate ID?"

"No, but be sure everyone know they should not, I repeat, not attempt to make an attempt to arrest this individual. My niece is in the car. I don't want to upset her; I just need to know where she is."

"Again, Tom?" She asked with a laugh. "You know she's going to be upset with you if you keep doing this."

"Just do it Martha!" He said.

"Don't worry Tom, it's already done."

When Devearux put down the radio he turned to Sam and asked, "Any ideas on where to start looking?"

Sam ran his hand through his hair and sighed, "I have no idea." He told the officer, "But we have time, not much, but I'd guess a few hours at least."

"How do you know?"

"This demon, it feeds on the torment of its victims. It won't kill Jennifer until it has had time use her to torment Dean."

"Use her how?"

"I don't know." He replied, "The cave, try the cave. It's the only place in this town we've been besides the diner. It's the only place Dean knows."

"Yeah, but the demon has been here for almost a month. It knows the town well by now."

"I know, but I'm not seeing to many options here. The only other thing I can think of to do is drive around and hope we get lucky."

"Okay, the cave first, but if it's not there we come back and drive this town block to block if we have too."

Sam nodded. What he needed now was a vision, but it was never that easy.

They were almost to the caves when Jennifer's uncle asked, "What did you mean earlier when you said, you couldn't do this again? Has Dean been possessed before?"

Sam wasn't sure what to say, so he opted for the truth, "No. I wasn't talking about Dean. I was talking about Jennifer."

"What about her?"

"I um… There was someone once. Someone I cared about. She… ah, she died."

Devearux was quiet for a second then he told Sam, "Jennifer told me about you and Jessica."

"She what?"

"We're close, she tells me everything." He said, "But Sam, you know this isn't the same. Jessica died in a fire. And we are not going to let anything happen to Jennifer."

Sam had no idea why he was able to talk to this man, but for some reason Devearux made it easy. "No she didn't, Jessica didn't die in the fire," he said before he knew what he was saying.

"Then what happened to her?"

Sam looked away and sighed, "It was a demon. Not this one, another one. Dean and I are looking for it. We're going to kill the son of bitch. It's my fault I wasn't there to protect her. I was gone and when I got back it was too late. She was dead and then the fire started. I couldn't save her."

"Listen Sam, I'm sorry about Jessica, but we ARE going to save Jennifer. There is no other option here. No matter what we have to do we will save her." Devearux said with complete conviction.

Sam looked at him and said, "You know we can't kill Dean, right?" Sam asked.

"Sam…"

"No, listen, we can't kill him because if we do the demon will be released and it will possess someone else." Sam explained. "We can't let it do that. Not to mention that since you and I may be the only two people in the area it would end up in one of us."

"Okay, that could be a problem."

They were only a few minutes from the caves when Martha came on the radio and said, "Tom, the car you're looking for has been spotted. It's at the old mill down by the river."

"Devearux picked up the handset and replied, "Thank you Martha, keep everyone back. I'm about ten minutes away."

**A/N – Okay, Sorry it took so long to post this chapter. I had a serious case of writers block and it took a few days to get over it. Anyway, I hope you enjoy it!**

**P.S. I haven't received very many reviews so I'm not sure if ya'll like it or not. Please Review and tell me what you like _and_ what you don't like (Mamma always told me ya can't fix it if you don't know it's broken).**


	15. Chapter 15

Disclaimer: I wish I wish with all my might, but darn the luck it really bites!  
I do not own them on this day, but that don't mean I can not play!

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter fifteen

Dean was astonished when he realized that the music he had _playing_ in his head was actually working to keep the Demon from his thoughts. In fact he was trying hard not to think about it too much because he suspected it would give him a headache if he were to try and figure out exactly how he had accomplished the small victory.

He needed to try and find out what he was capable of doing that might slow the damn demon down long enough for Sam to find him and exorcise it's ass right back to hell. He also needed to be sure the demon had no chance to cause him any more torment. It seemed to grow stronger when Dean had allowed it to distress him earlier. That meant he needed to get Jennifer away from him as fast as possible.

The Demon stopped the Impala at what appeared to be an abandoned mill just outside of town. It got out of the car, opened the trunk and the hidden weapons compartment. After a few minutes it of searching it pulled out a rope, a gun, and one of Dean's favorite knives.

As the Demon was searching an idea popped into Dean's head and he decided to give it a try. Lowering the volume of the musical shield he had created he allowed a thought to escape. "_Stupid demon doesn't even know duct tape is better than rope!_" he thought while picturing the tape in his mind.

The demon, hearing what he said, lifted the tape and asked "_Why_?"

As soon as the demon had the tape Dean slammed the volume of the music back up and mentally backed away from the demons presence.

The demon shrugged as Dean hid his presence behind the shield he had built. It pocketed the tape unsure what it was to be used for, but determined to find out once it broke through the mortal's very annoying and loud shield. This human was certainly different from most of the others he had taken. It was going to have fun destroying him.

"_Okay, Dean," _he said to himself_, "So you were able to fool it into picking up some tape. Too bad you can't trick it into taping its mouth and tying itself up_!"

Dean watched through his own eyes as it lifted Jennifer easily from the car and entered the mill. He needed to find a way to wake her before the demon tied her up. That meant he had to find a way to take back control of his own body.

Dean had an idea. Experimentally he turned off the music.

"_So you have decided to come out of your hiding place_." The demon said to him.

"_Not exactly_," he told it. Then as quickly and as loudly as he could he wrapped the music around the demon as though it was surrounded with speakers. He wasn't sure how he did it, but it worked. He suddenly had control back. He stopped, set Jennifer down and tried to wake her.

"Jennifer," he said patting her face. "Wake up honey. I'm not sure how long I can hold it." When that didn't work Dean slapped her face, not too hard, but hard enough to leave a red mark. "WAKE UP!" he shouted at her.

The demon was struggling to regain control. Dean could feel its raw power as it pushed against his musical barrier. He struck Jennifer again. This time he was rewarded with a slight groan as she shook her head to clear it.

"Jennifer, listen to me. You have to get out of here as quickly as you can."

Jennifer sat up suddenly, "Dean what's going on?"

"I can't explain, just leave now! No matter what I tell you don't come back. Find Sam, tell him what happened. Only he can fix this." He was starting to sweat from the mental exertion of keeping the barrier up around the demon.

"But you said he was hurt? What the hell is going on Dean?" She asked standing up.

"Sweetheart I don't have time for twenty questions, just trust me on this. You do not want to be here if I loose control. In fact it might be best if you were to tie me up now so you can go get Sam." Dean was getting worried. He could feel cracks, like blank spots in the musical barrier he had erected around the demon. It was beginning to break free.

"What are you talking about?" She asked backing away from him.

He was running out of time. "Jennifer, I know this is confusing. But try and stay with me here. TIE ME UP NOW!" he shouted at her throwing the rope at her.

A sudden excruciating pain burned into his mind and the demon wrestled control back from him. It pushed him back away from it shoving with a massive amount of power, holding him with its burning touch, torturing his mind with pain.

Jennifer had stepped back away from Dean, but for a second he looked as though he was in such terrible pain. She dropped the rope he had thrown at her and stepped closer, intending to help him. She had no idea what was going on, but she knew he needed help.

"Dean, what's wrong?" she asked looking in his eyes. What she saw scared her more than anything had ever done before. With a look of pure pain, Dean's eyes when from the beautiful hazel green to solid black, including the white parts.

She tried to take a step back, but before she could he reached out and grabbed her left wrist. "No. You will not get away so easily," said Dean. But it wasn't really Dean anymore, she wasn't sure how, but it wasn't him.

Dean slammed his musical barrier up around him as quickly as he could cutting off further attempts by the demon to hurt him. He screamed at Jennifer to run, leave, get the hell out there, but it was useless the demon was back in control. Exhausted, all he could do for the moment was watch.

Jennifer decided she should have listened to him earlier when he told her to leave. Now it was going to be a bit more difficult to get away. She knew what was going to happen next… and she was totally prepared for it.

When he began to pull her closer she used the momentum from the pull to add speed and power to her attack. Using a palm heel strike she smashed him in the nose as hard as she could. She felt the cartilage break under the impact and felt blood splatter onto her face, but didn't stop there. Twisting her left hand slightly within his grasp she grabbed his wrist so he couldn't back away, then she followed up her with a knee to the groin and when he bent over in pain she used her elbow to smash the back of his neck as hard as she could.

Shocked, at the realization of what Jennifer was about to do Dean, tired as he was could not just sit back and watch. Instead, he acted. He lowered his barrier and attacked the demon from within.

"CRISTO" he shouted over and over again and as Jennifer began her attack he took a page out of the demons own book and pushed with all his might. He felt every blow that Jennifer struck, but so did the demon and Dean shoved all of his pain and all of his anger at the demon until Jennifer's final blow to the back of his neck sent him reeling into unconsciousness.

**A/N – Please, Please review and tell me what you think. I really didn't like messing up Dean's face, but I did like having a girl do it. I'm not much into the whole damsel in distress thing. I prefer the girl work her own way out, maybe rescue the guy, but what can I say, I'm a third degree black belt myself and I wouldn't let anyone push me around either! **


	16. Chapter 16

Disclaimer: (_she sighs_) No, I don't own them, not yet anyway, but the future is still out there!

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Sixteen

Officer Devearux parked the car behind the Impala ensuring it would be unable to leave the mill. "Now what?" he asked Sam.

"We have to find Dean hold him down and gag him so I can perform the exorcism."

"Okay, sounds easy enough." Devearux replied.

"Yeah," Sam sighed, "But somehow it's never that easy."

"Why not?"

"Because demons are notoriously strong and this one has telekinesis abilities."

"So how do we stop it?"

Sam handed the deputy a flask. "We can slow it down with this."

"Uh huh," Devearux said, "What are we going to do offer it a drink?"

"Nope, that's holy water. It burns them and takes away their power, but it's only temporary. It will help us overpower it and gag it though."

"Why gag it? Devearux asked.

"Because the only way for this demon to release itself from its host is to perform a ritual chant. Once it does that its host bursts into flames the demon is free to choose another victim."

"Okay, so we can't let it talk. What else?"

"That's it really, but it would be best if we could tie him up, or cuff him to something strong enough to hold him."

"Sam, you do realize just how crazy this whole thing sounds don't you?"

Sam looked at him and smiled "Welcome to our life," he said.

As they exited the car Sam slung his backpack over his arm. He had everything he could think of that he might need packed in it and ready to go. They made their way to the entrance as quickly and quietly as possible. Once there Sam slowly opened the door and looking left and right he entered, followed swiftly by Jennifer's uncle.

Moving as silently as possible they made their way into the depths of the building. As they neared the center they heard Jennifer talking. "Dean, I'm sorry, I' m doing what you asked."

Sam looked around another corner of the building and was surprised by what he saw.

Dean was lying on his back. Duct tape secured his legs from his ankles all the way up to his knees. He had the same stuff wrapped around his wrists and Jennifer was sitting on his chest putting on the finishing touches as she taped his mouth shut.

Sam stepped around the corner motioning Devearux to do the same. When he saw what Sam was looking at he turned to the young hunter and said, "Well it might be just a tad bit easier then you thought."

Jennifer, hearing her uncles voice turned around saw them standing across the room. "Thank God," she said. "I wasn't sure what I should be doing, but he said he wanted me to tie him up and get you Sam. He was acting very strange, then his eyes went all weird and he attacked me. I had to hurt him. I'm sorry Sam, but I couldn't let him hurt me."

Sam looked at Jennifer, then at Dean who lay unconscious on the ground. Blood soaked the top of his shirt where it had run from his obviously broken nose.

"You did this?" Sam asked her in total disbelief that his brother could be taken down by a girl over a hundred pounds lighter then he was.

"Don't look so shocked Sam," she replied with a grin. "I've had eleven years of martial arts training, plus having this big lunk for an uncle. He made sure I could take care of myself."

"And you did a bang up job of it too honey," Devearux said with pride.

Jennifer laughed, then looked down at Dean, "I don't think he's going to be very happy when he wakes up and finds out I broke his nose," she said seriously.

Sam knelt down next to his brother and felt for a pulse, he found it, strong as ever. Dean _was_ going to be so upset about his nose, but he would be fine once they got rid of the demon. It was then that something Jennifer had said clicked and he asked, "Hey Jen, you said he told you to tie him up?"

"Yeah, he was acting all strange, he wanted me to go find you, but I didn't listen to him. Then he kind of lost it and I didn't have a choice. I had to put him down."

"He was fighting it," Sam said. "He found a way to fight the damn thing from inside."

"What thing?" Jennifer asked confused. "Sam, what is going on here?"

It was Devearux who answered her, "Well, sweet heart, it seems that Dean may have been possessed by a demon."

Jennifer turned and stared at her uncle, disbelief plain on her face. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah," he said with a chuckle, "that was my reaction too the first time I heard it. But I think we are about to find out how true it is."

"How?" Jennifer asked.

"Sam is going to perform an exorcism."

She turned to Sam who was silently removing the things he was going to need from his backpack and setting them next to his brother who was just beginning to regain consciousness.

"An exorcism?" she asked looking from Sam to her uncle, "This just gets better and better. I think I've stepped onto planet weird all of sudden. You actually believe this Uncle Tommy?"

"I don't know ask me again when he's done."

"Okay," Sam said, "Now let's send this demon back to hell where it belongs." Sam reached over and shook his brother. "Dean, wake up. I'm sorry but you are going to have to be awake for this."

Dean's eyes fluttered, but refused to open completely. "Come on Dean a little help here, you gotta wake up." When that didn't work Sam resorted to the flask of holy water. "Dean, I'm sorry," Sam said, "But this is going to hurt like hell." He stood and sprinkled the contents from the flask onto his brothers' chest.

The reaction was immediate and violent. Steam rose from each spot the holy water had touched his chest. Solid black eyes popped open to stare at fiercely at Sam who quickly picked up the journal from beside him and began speaking the Latin ritual that would free his brother.

The flask was knocked from Sam's hand by an unseen force sending it clear across the room. A fierce wind came out of nowhere attempting to push Sam away from his brother. Unfazed by the events, Sam kept reading. Dean's head snapped back and forth, his body arched and began to rise from the ground.

"Hold him down." Sam told Devearux who immediately complied. "Jennifer the flask. Get the flask."

Devearux was trying to hold Dean down, but he was still being lifted into the air. Sam sat on his brothers legs and continued the incantation. Dean's whole body began to shake with the demons effort to stop the procedure.

Jennifer returned with the flask and began to sprinkle it on Dean's chest like Sam had done earlier. Steam rose once again from his burning flesh, the smell of sulfur filled the air. The air was suddenly alive with flying objects as the demon picked up anything it could find and threw it at the three of them.

Sam was knocked from his Dean's legs when a sizable piece of wood slammed with some force into his head. Blood poured freely from where it struck his temple. Sam simply picked up the journal and continued with barely a pause.

Dean's body was lifted a few feet higher into the air taking Sam and Devearux with him.

Jennifer poured the last of the contents of the flask onto Dean's chest, tossed it aside and helped hold him down.

Sam snapped the journal closed tossed it aside and prepared to remove the tape from his brother's mouth to allow the demons release from his body. Looking directly into the deep dark eyes of the demon Sam completed the incantation and pulled off the tape.

The wind stopped suddenly and Dean dropped to the floor. Devearux and Jennifer backed up as his head snapped back and a vile black smoke poured from his mouth, nose, and eyes. It swirled violently above their heads for a few seconds before it was drawn down and sucked into the ground beneath them.

Sam sat next to his brother lifted his head into his own lap, "Dean," he said urgently, "Dean." His brother's eyes fluttered open for a second then they rolled up into his head and closed again. "No, Dean. Come on wake up."

"Sam," his brother replied weakly opening his eyes.

"I'm right here Dean." Sam told him hugging his brother to his chest.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you untie me now?"

**A/N – Well… How is it so far? Please review and let me know. And I'm still not done. I have at lease one more chapter to go. A few loose ends that need to be tied up, I'll try and post it later today. **

**I know I sound like a broken record, but review, review, review. Please…**


	17. Chapter 17

Disclaimer: I do not own supernatural, but I wish I did!

**Spontaneous Combustion**

Chapter Seventeen

They were sitting at a table in the diner, Sam, Dean, Jennifer and her uncle. Dean's nose was bandaged and Sam's head stitched up. In fact, they all looked pretty worn out.

"How am I going to explain this to the sheriff?" Devearux asked Dean.

"Don't." he replied. "There's no need to, the deaths will stop now."

"Yeah, but the others…"

"When they can't find anything and when no other deaths occur, they'll all be considered natural deaths and the cases will be closed."

"But their families should know what you guys did. They should know that the thing that killed them has been destroyed."

Dean didn't tell him it wasn't destroyed, just returned to hell. Instead he said, "No, that's the last thing we want."

"Why?"

It was Sam who replied, "Because if they knew what was really out there it would change them, like it changed you and Jennifer. You're both always going to know what's really out there." He said sadly.

"Sam," Jennifer said, "I have always know there was evil out there in the world. Maybe I wasn't thinking in terms of Demons, but it's still the same." She smiled at him then continued, "But you know, there is good out there too working hard to balance the scales."

"Well, I haven't seen any of the good," Sam said.

She laughed at him. "You don't get it do you Sam?" She asked.

He tilted his head and looked at her quizzically, "Get what?"

"It's you. You and your brother are part of the good out there. As long as there are people like you fighting those things then I know its going to be okay." She paused for minute then added, "Jessica was right about you, more so then she ever imagined. You really are an angel Sam."

Dean looked at his brother a smirk on his face. He was about to say something when Jennifer looked at him and said, "You both are."

"Trust me honey, I'm no angel," he replied.

"Well, you were both just what this town needed." Devearux said. "There's no telling how many people would have died if guys hadn't come and stopped it."

Dean looked at Devearux and replied, "You would have found a way, you knew, all along it wasn't something natural. You just needed a nudge in the right direction."

"I still wouldn't have known how to stop it," he said. "You may not receive the gratitude of the people of this town, but you have mine. If you ever need anything, you call me and I'll do what I can." He stood up shook their hands and said. "I've got to go now, I'm still on duty."

"Hang on, I'll walk you out." Dean said to him. Then he turned to Jennifer smiled at her and said, "You, don't go breaking anymore noses!"

They all laughed. Dean's nose while swollen and sore was going to be fine.

"I'll be in the car Sam." Dean told his brother and walked out with Devearux.

"Jennifer," Sam said taking her hand. "I wanted to thank you."

"For what?"

"For reminding me about the good times I had with Jessica. I was so… focused on her death that I forgot her life. I forgot all the little things that I loved so much about her. You brought them all back and nothing I can say or do will ever be enough to repay you for that priceless gift."

"Sam, you just remember one thing."

"What's that?"

"Jessica would want you to live. She'd want you to be happy. Don't forget to be happy Sam."

Sam smiled at her and kissed her cheek. "I have to go."

"Come back and visit sometime Sam."

"I will," he said and walked out the door.

Dean was waiting in the car the engine already running and the music playing at a reasonable volume when Sam got in the passenger seat.

"We could stay for a while," his brother told him.

Sam shook his head, "No, but maybe we can come back sometime."

Dean nodded and put the car in gear and headed the car out of the small town of Oakridge, Oregon. It was going to be a quiet little town again now that the evil that had been plaguing it was gone.

"Hey Dean," Sam said.

"Yeah?" he brother asked.

"I been meaning to ask you, how did you manage to control the demon long enough to tell Jennifer what to do?"

Dean smiled, "The damn thing was annoying me, so I just did the same thing I do to you when you start to annoy me."

Sam stared at his brother a very confused look on his face, "What's that?"

Dean reached for the volume control on the radio, "I just turned up the music and ignored it," he said and turned up the volume.

**A/N – I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to everyone who read this! I had so much fun writing it I hope you enjoyed it. Thank you all for the wonderful comments and reviews. Good (even bad) reviews make it so much easier to continue to write. I'm going to ask one more time so please bear with me here. Please review and tell me what you think.**

**Again, thank you!**


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